Means for printing photographs.



s. A. NIELSONL MEANS FOR PRINTING PHOTOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22, 1908.

959,249. Patented May 24, 1910.

nw' lh h ililihinlllilhn inliiiiiillilillllmill!!! 7A8 UNITED smtrgn s arrnnr OFFICE.

SAMUEL A. NIELSON, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

MEANS FOR PRINTING PHOTOGRAPHS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL A. NinLsou, a citizen of the United States. residing at Madison, in the county of Dane and State of \Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Printing Photographs, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to an improved holder or guide for positioning a sensitive sheet or body upon a negative, the construction and advantages of which will be hereinafter set forth reference being had to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of one form of the holder shown as applied to a negative, in this instance a glass plate; Fig. 2, a sectional view thereof taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a top plan view showing a holder having a slightly differentoutline from that illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a view of the picture which would be produced by the holder or guide shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, a plan view of a modified arrangement of the device.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, the trimming of photographs takes time and is wasteful of the printing paper, and where a large number of prints are made, as in commercial houses, the waste amounts to considerable; in fact is so extensive as to warrant the saving of the scraps and the recovery of the silver or other valuable metals or salts therefrom. Furthermore, to properly trim a picture it is deemed essential that the prints should be dried before being trimmed, and before they are mounted it is usually deemed necessary to again dampen or wet the prints. Vith the present invention the loss in the printing paper is avoided, and the necessity of trimming is done away with. I

The holder or guide for the sensitive paper, as it may be termed, may be formed in various ways, and the drawings of the pres ent case are merely indicative of several forms which are simple in their arrangement, and it is to be understood that so far as the generic invention is concerned the holder may be made in various ways.

It is considered desirable in the printing of photographs, and particularly portraits, that a margin be left around the picture, and it is of course essential to proper work that this margin be equal upon all sides of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 22, 1908.

Patented May 24, 1910.

Serial No. 468,776.

the picture and that no trimming be necessary to secure such equal margin.

The holder may be said to comprise a body or sheet of opaque or non-actinic material having an opening therein through which the light rays may pass to the image-receiving surface or body, combined with means for en gaging or holding said body in a fixed relation to the opening, so that it will occupy such position with reference to the opening that an even margin of unprinted surface will appear around the edge of the body, or just outside of the printed portion or picture.

Referring to Fig. l, 1 denotes a negative, in this instance shown as a glass plate though as will be readily appreciated the holder may be secured to any form of negative, paper, celluloid, or otherwise, upon which is secured by pasters 2, or other equivalent means, a sheet 3 of relatively thin non-actinic material, havinga rectangular opening formed therein. This opening will be positioned upon the negative so that the matter which it is desired shall appear in the print will be properly posi tioned with reference to the opening and will, consequently, appear in proper position upon the print. Over-lying said sheet 3 is a second sheet l, said sheet having an opening formed therein somewhat larger than the opening in the sheet 3. The distances between the edges of the openings in the two sheets will be determined by the size of the unprinted margin which it is desired shall appear around the edge of the print, the sensitive body or sheet being placed in the opening formed in the sheet a when the same is to be printed. It is of course understood that the whole device will be clamped in a printing frame or the like, so that the sensitive surface will be forced into close contact wit-h the negative, the sheet 3 being made relatively thin so as to permit close contact bet-ween the negative and the paper. WVhile it is desirable that the opening in the sheet a should conform in outline to the opening in the sheet 3, this of course is not essential as long as certain portions of the opening in the sheet 4 are so arranged that they will, when the edge of the sensitive sheet is brought into contact therewith, properly position said sensitive sheet with reference to the opening in the sheet 3. Thus in Fig. 5 the opaque sheet 3 having the opening 5 formed therein has secured to it two triangular-shaped members 6 adjacent to oppositely disposed corners of said opening. It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the sensitive sheet upon which the picture is to be printed will be properly positioned with reference to the opening 5 if the corners of the sheet are placed in the angles of the members 6, as indicated in dotted lines in said figure.

In Fig. 8 a holder having an opening other than rectangular, or in other words an opening which is substantially rectangular with inwardly projecting corner pieces 7, is shown, the opening in the overlying or paper-positioning member or sheet 4 having its corners cut off so as to receive a sheet of the outline shown in Fig. 4:. The picture shown in Fig. 4 will then have a margin formed all around it with unprinted triangular portions 8, which give the effect of the corners of the picture being turned inwardly. This is but one of the many forms which may be used, and-it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any form of opening, as ovals, circles, and the like, or any irregular or indented form may be given to the opening in the nonactinic member through which opening the light rays pass. here the margin of the opening in the upper member 4: follows closely the opening in the lower member 8, it may be advisable to form a finger opening as 9 in said overlying member L (see Fig. l) in order that the paper print may be readily withdrawn from the opening to permit examination of the same from time to time.

IVhile I have described the holder as being formed of two sheets, or of a single sheet with triangular members or the like secured thereto, it is conceivable that the device may be formed as an integral structure, struck up out of paper or like material, or formed or molded from a plastic substance.

It will of course be understood that the holders will be made of various and standard sizes and shapes to be used in conjunction with paper of similar size and shape which may be placed upon the market. Inasmuch as the holders may be cheaply manufactured they can be used to advantage by the paper manufacturers as an advertisement of their goods. The frame or holder may, further more, be employed to position a sensitive sheet in connection with enlarging apparatus wherein the image to be printed is thrown directly onto the sensitive sheet.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A holder or guide for positioning a sensitive sheet in proper relation to a negative from which a print is to be taken, comprising a sheet of relatively thin non-actinic material having an opening therein through which the light rays may pass to the sensitive sheet, the margin of said opening defining the outline of the picture; means arranged upon that side of the thin sheet which, when the holder is in use is remote from the negative, for engaging the edges of the sensitive sheet and holding the same in a definite relation to the opening and consequently to the negative underlying the same; and means for securing the holder directly to and in a definite position upon the negative.

2. A holder or guide for positioning a sensitive body in proper relation to a nega tive from which a print is to be taken, comprising a thin sheet of non-actinic material having an opening therein through which the light rays may pass to the sensitive body, the margin of said opening defining the outline of the picture;'a second sheet overlying the first sheet, said second sheet having an opening formed therein said opening being larger than the opening in the first sheet and adapted to hold the sensitive body by contact with the edges thereof; and means for securing the holder or guide directly to the negative.

In testimonywhereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

G. J. Consco'r,

I-Ionaon A. DODGE. 

